Throughout this disclosure, the term “Scorpion” or “Scorpion System” refers generally to the disclosed Thomas Services Scorpion brand proprietary tubular management system as a whole.
One drawback of conventional tubular cleaning apparatus is that, with the cleaning apparatus stationary and the tubular drawn longitudinally across, the apparatus requires a large building. Range 3 drilling pipe is typically 40-47 feet long per joint, which means that in order to clean range 3 pipe, the building needs to be at least approximately 120 feet long
A further drawback of the prior art is that external cleaning operations are generally completely separate operations from inspection or other data gathering operations regarding the tubular.
Yet another drawback of the prior art is that when ultrasonic sensing alone is used, an intermediate fluid, or water coupling, is often required between the tubular and the ultrasonic sensor. Still further, surface anomalies such as pits and cracks may go undetected. Additionally, a zero degree reference line may need to be drawn on the external surface of the tubular prior to ultrasonic measurement.